Racism exists in Victoria, admits Oz top cop

Published: Saturday, February 6, 2010, 14:08 [IST]

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Melbourne, Feb 6(ANI): Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland has admitted that Indians were "bearing the brunt" of an upswing in violent street crime in Victoria, and said that there are racists in the state, but it is not endemic.

"Undoubtedly, some of what we are seeing is racist. There is no denying that, I've never denied it, I have never walked away from that," The News.com.au quoted Overland, as saying.

He however said that Melbourne's permanent Indian population is not being attacked at a higher rate than the rest of the general public, and was not over-represented in crime statistics.

"The standing Indian population don't live in those high risk areas, they don't necessarily use public transport," Overland said.

Overland said police also planned to flood the public transport system from next month, as they have identified a pattern of the crimes being committed.

"Now the pattern that we're seeing is that robberies are occurring within about a three-kilometre radius of certain railway stations where there is a concentration of Indian students and other international students living," Overland said.

He also claimed that Indian students attending private colleges were often vulnerable due to a lack of support from college operators, and urged those experiencing problems to lodge complaint at the nearest police station.

"I know there are issues of trust, but if you don't tell us, if you're not prepared to come forward and tell us, then there is little that we can actually do about it," he said. (ANI)